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People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals want the Shrine Circus to drop its tiger act before it opens under the big top in Rexdale this weekend.

In a letter written to the Woodbine Centre, where the circus will perform at least once a day until Canada Day, PETA lawyer Carney Anne Chester asked the centre to refuse to host the circus unless the tiger act is cancelled.

The tigers are owned and trained by a subcontractor, Hawthorn Corp., which she claimed has a 20-year history of animal abuse.

“Hawthorn has one of the most deplorable records in the circus history,” she said in an interview.

The company, which operates exotic animal acts in circuses across the continent, has been cited more than 100 times for violations of animal welfare law in the U.S, had its licence revoked twice and been ordered to pay $272,000 in civil penalties, Chester said by telephone from California.

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Larry Solheim, general manager at TZ Productions, which puts on the Shrine Circus tour across Ontario this summer, says that while Hawthorn may have been cited in the U.S., the specific act playing in Toronto this summer has never been accused of any wrongdoing.

“They’re great trainers. We have no issues with them,” he said. “They’ve always been very professional when they’ve worked with our shows.”

Chester admitted she was unaware of any allegations against Hawthorn in Canada.

She maintains, however, it’s unethical to do any business with them.

“Hosting this company is incompatible with any charitable use the Shrine circus may have,” she said.

PETA also contacted Shrine Circus, but has not yet received a response, she said.

In 2003, for the first time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confiscated an elephant from Hawthorn after finding it to be in “imminent danger” because of untreated chemical burns sustained while standing in undiluted formaldehyde, Chester said.

Afterward, Hawthorn had to relinquish all 16 of the company’s elephants, but was allowed to keep the tigers.

“There’s no need for this tiger act to be included in the circus for people to be entertained,” Chester said. “The right thing to do is to cancel this animal act because Hawthorn is more interested in making a profit than providing proper care for these animals.”

Solheim says he’s used to being accused of animal cruelty by groups like PETA, an animal rights group with a history of aggressively pursuing companies they believe are guilty of animal cruelty.

Shrine Circus, whose history goes back over a century, has never been cited for animal abuse in the 30 years it has operated in Ontario, he said. The circus is inspected annually by the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

“The people of Ontario have been coming for generations to see the show because they see what we do, they see how well the animals are cared for.”

The Shrine Circus hasn’t had a tiger act for several years now, but wanted to bring it back for this summer’s celebration of 250 years of performing by the Zerbini circus family. They made a careful selection of animals and trainers and went with a group they had worked with in the past.

“There are people who shouldn’t have cars or children because they aren’t responsible. There are people who have animals who are like that, too. We can only speak for ourselves, and I think 250 years means a lot,” Solheim said.

Animal rights groups have lobbied to end animal acts at circuses and succeeded in getting bylaws passed against them in several municipalities in Ontario. But each time, the laws have been overturned in court.

He points to a 2004 case in which a judge struck down a bylaw in Windsor banning any show using exotic animals.

In his ruling, Judge Richard C. Gates wrote that the bylaw was passed by city council after hearing presentations from animal rights groups. “I view this material to be, in the main, misleading or inflammatory. Council permitted itself to stray too far off course and went beyond the limit,” he wrote.

Solheim says the circus has stricter standards than the government does, and they are very careful when choosing the acts that appear in their shows.

“From a political standpoint, PETA and the SPCA may not endorse what we do — they say, ‘We think animals should be left in the wild’ — but we care for our animals and we have a right to operate.”

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